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Project budget spreadsheet for a federal grant: what the 2024 rule changed
$21,700 of indirect cost is left off this federal grant budget by an outdated template. This is for US nonprofits, tribes, small colleges and research teams applying without a negotiated indirect rate.
Sample budget: $493,000 of direct costs, subawards of $120,000 and $40,000.
- Modified total direct costs (MTDC): $354,000
- Indirect costs at the 15% de minimis rate: $53,100
- Total project budget (direct + indirect): $546,100
- Indirect under the pre-2024 rule (10%, first $25,000): $31,400
- Indirect left unclaimed with an outdated template: $21,700
- Overclaim if 15% is applied to all direct costs: $20,850
Those six lines come straight from the spreadsheet's formulas. The rest of this page explains them.
What changed. Without a negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (NICRA), the indirect line of a federal project budget runs on the de minimis rate in 2 CFR 200.414(f). The 2024 revision of the Uniform Guidance raised that rate from 10% to up to 15% of MTDC. It also raised the share of each subaward counted in MTDC from the first $25,000 to the first $50,000. And 2 CFR 200.1 now sets the equipment threshold at $10,000 per unit, so items below that sit in supplies, inside the base. Many grant budget templates and guides still use the old numbers.
What MTDC is. MTDC covers salaries and wages, fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel, and up to the first $50,000 of each subaward. It leaves out equipment, capital expenditures, patient care, rental costs, tuition remission, scholarships and fellowships, participant support costs, and the part of each subaward above $50,000. The indirect rate is applied to MTDC, never to total direct costs.
How the sample works. $180,000 of salaries at a 30% fringe rate, $18,000 of supplies and services, $12,000 of travel, $45,000 of equipment and $24,000 of participant support, plus the two subawards. Total direct costs are $493,000. The first subaward counts only up to $50,000; the second counts in full. Equipment and participant support stay out, which leaves MTDC at $354,000. Fifteen percent of that is $53,100.
The outdated template. Run the same budget through a template still on 10% and the first $25,000 of each subaward and the indirect line comes out at $31,400, which is $21,700 less on the request you submit.
The opposite mistake. Applying 15% to all direct costs gives $73,950, which is $20,850 more than the rule allows. Reviewers and sponsored programs offices check for exactly this.
Two more cases. Take a 25% fringe rate, no equipment and subawards of $30,000 and $40,000. MTDC is $325,000, indirect is $48,750 and the gap to the old rule is $18,250. Then take a small team with $90,000 of salaries at 28% fringe, $6,000 of supplies and $4,000 of travel. Everything is in MTDC ($125,200), so indirect is $18,780, compared with $12,520 at the old rate.
What the spreadsheet does. You type eight lines: salaries, fringe rate, supplies and services, travel, equipment (with rent and tuition remission), participant support, subaward A and subaward B. Twelve formulas return:
- fringe
- subaward A counted in MTDC
- subaward B counted in MTDC
- MTDC
- total direct costs
- the costs excluded from MTDC
- indirect at 15%
- the total project budget
- the pre-2024 figure
- the gap
- the overclaim check
- indirect as a share of total direct costs (10.77% in the sample)
Limits. The rate used is the 15% maximum; you may elect less. If you hold a negotiated rate, use it instead. Agency terms and your award notice take precedence. The free browser calculator runs the whole check; the workbook is the file you keep with the proposal and copy for each budget year.
15 seconds — what it actually does
Questions people ask
What does this project budget spreadsheet calculate?
It takes your eight federal grant budget lines and returns fringe, modified total direct costs (MTDC), indirect costs at the 15% de minimis rate of 2 CFR 200.414(f), and the total project budget. It also shows how much an outdated 10% / first-$25,000 template leaves unclaimed, and how much you would overclaim by applying 15% to all direct costs.
Who is this project budget spreadsheet for?
Grant writers, program directors and finance staff at nonprofits, tribes, small colleges and research teams that apply for federal awards without a negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (NICRA). Pass-through subrecipients without a NICRA use it too. If you already have a negotiated rate, use that rate instead of the de minimis rate.
Why not use a free grant budget template?
Many free grant budget templates and guides still apply the old rule: a 10% de minimis rate and only the first $25,000 of each subaward in MTDC. Since the April 2024 revision of 2 CFR 200 the rate is up to 15% and the first $50,000 of each subaward counts. A plain spreadsheet also does not split equipment and participant support out of the base for you.
What do I get free, and what does the paid file add?
The browser calculator is free and complete: type your eight lines and read all 12 results, including MTDC, indirect, total budget, the outdated-template gap and the overclaim check. The paid .xlsx carries the same 12 live formulas as a workbook you keep, copy for each budget year or proposal, and send to your sponsored programs office.
What does it cost compared with getting this wrong?
The file is $21 once, not a subscription. In the built-in sample budget ($493,000 direct, two subawards), an outdated 10% / $25,000 template requests $31,400 of indirect instead of $53,100, leaving $21,700 off the proposal. Applying 15% to all direct costs instead would request $20,850 the rule does not allow.
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